A single point of failure (SPOF) is a part of a system, device, or process where, if it fails, it will cause the entire system to stop functioning or experience a major breakdown. SPOFs are common in both physical and digital systems—like networks, power grids, databases, and even organizational processes—where an individual component is critical for the whole operation.
For example:
• In an IT network, a single server could be a SPOF if it hosts a critical application and has no backup or redundancy.
• In an organization, a single employee responsible for a unique, essential task without any backup or knowledge sharing could also be a SPOF.
To reduce risk, designers and engineers typically try to minimize SPOFs by adding redundancy, backup systems, or failover mechanisms.
